Turning Tables
by Winterbolt
Summary: After what starts out as Chris and Martin trying to do something nice for each other takes a turn for the worst, it becomes less of a surprise- and more of a race against time.
1. Surprise

_Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak._

The sound of furious typing echoed throughout the atrium of the center of the Tortuga, just as it had been for several hours now. The source of the sound in question was Chris, who had been working on typing up documents full of information on every species the team had encountered that month, from noisy T-Devils to high flying Draco Lizards. It had been hard going, and still was; even though Chris had been typing almost non-stop all day, he had barely reached the halfway point of where he wanted to be. So now, around midday, here he was, working away like a hamster running on a wheel. His eyes darted back and forth across the massive screen on the wall as each new collumn of text appeared.

"Slow down there CK, or you'll be paying for a new computer before too long."

Chris jumped a little, leaning back in his chair when he was snapped out of his concentration by a voice just over his shoulder. "Aw come on Aviva, you work this computer a lot harder than I do." He pointed out with a gesture at a nearby case full to bursting with creature power disks. "And besides, it's for a good cause! Once I have all of this data typed out and cataloged, it will be easy to not only keep up with the animals we've seen, but all of our named animal friends as well." As if to prove his point, Chris wheeled the chair close to the desk again and punched the enter key, causing a whole list of animals to appear on the screen.

Impressed, Aviva rested one hand on her hip and draped the other over the back of Chris's chair, "Wow, I suppose I stand corrected! Martin's going to love this." A small smile graced the features of the younger Kratt brother's face as he again pushed back from the desk so he could look over at Aviva, "I hope so. This way he'll be able to keep up with as many of our animal friends as he wants, whenever he wants!" He hadn't even thought of that until Aviva brought it up- now he was even more excited to get the job done, if only to surprise Martin with it.

"Speaking of Martin, where _is_ he?" Chris turned completely around, placing his palms on his knees before meeting Aviva's gaze. She shrugged however, glancing at the door out of the corner of her eye, "You know I'm not sure. I haven't seen him all day, have you?" Chris shook his head, frowning a little. "Well we both decided last night we were going to take a short break from adventuring to get some technical work done, so I'm sure he's off doing /something/ productive…" There was a pause, and both Aviva and Chris shook their heads, blurting in unison, "Naahhh."

Chris doubted his older brother would be able to sit still that long, so he wouldn't be surprised if he was outside messing around right now. He let out a good natured chuckle before grabbing the edge of the desk, pulling himself back close to it for the third time, "Anyway, I better get back to work if I want to get this done before nightfall." Nodding, Aviva turned to walk off to give Chris his space, but before she did she paused, "Hold on- Chris you know this computer runs off of data compiled onto CD's right? This is where I make the power suits- it's a one shot deal, there's not really any way you can save your work-" But he waved her off, "Don't worry about it, as long as I don't turn it off everything will be safe right? And the sun is nice and bright today, we've literally got _endless_ energy for me to work off of."

"Aalright, if you say so CK. I'll leave you to your work then." Aviva chuckled before skating off, most likely to get to work on a project of her own. Chris barely seemed to notice, because immediately he had gone right back to typing, filling the atrium with the non-stop tapping sound once more.

_Tak tak tak tak tak._

—

—

Meanwhile, just below where Chris was working, the Kratt brother in question was sitting on the floor Indian style, holding a cylinder between both hands. He opened the top and upturned it, shaking it until all of its contents spilled out onto the floor before him- creature power disks of dozens of different species.

Martin smiled a little to himself as he put the canister aside, spreading the disks out so he could see them better, "Alright let's see what we have here…" What was he up to? One would surely wonder this if they came down to the 'barracks' of sorts where the crew slept, this room in particular belonging to Martin and Chris. He glanced over all of the power disks and ran his fingers through his hair thoughtfully, bringing his hand down to touch his chin. "I can't get enough of using Peregrine Falcon powers…. or…maybe I can go for a swim as a Bass?" Martin whispered as he used a thumb to push the disks apart. Choices choices.

In truth, Martin was quite literally bored out of his mind. Chris had been up since early this morning (and so had he), but since he immediately went to work on his documents, Martin hadn't seen hide nor hair out of him since. It was a bit disappointing, not having his brother around to do things with at the moment, but he knew he was busy and respected that. That's why he had turned to the power disks for something to do.

Aviva wouldn't be opposed to him testing out a few creature powers, surely!

Definitely not.

With a pleased grin Martin shifted his weight forwards a little, resting his chin in his palms before resting his elbows on his knees. "Man this is a tough one…maybe- ..noo….or what about….nah I use that one too much…." But then, his eyes caught on a particular disk that had been hidden under the one marked with Bat powers. Raising an eyebrow, Martin reached out and picked it up, bringing it forwards so he could see the creature powers this disk held inside.

A large head, small ears, telltale horns….

"Rhino powers!" Martin exclaimed. "I've never even used this power before, have I?…." He still was positive Elephant powers were better than Rhino powers, but that didn't sway him from wanting to test them out any less. Just the thought of having a massive horn with the strength to knock over a truck was exciting in itself. It was too good to pass up!

Martin held the Rhino disk in one hand as he carefully pulled the rest of the pile on the floor back over to him, sliding them back into the canister for now. Then he picked it up and placed it on the shelf before grabbing his power suit vest from the bed, slipping it on. "Alright then, Rhino powers it is! Though…" He trailed off a little, looking over his shoulder, "I probably _should_ go outside before I activate…." If he wanted to go outside he would have to go back up to the atrium, and then he would be bothering Chris, right?…

Plus, their bedroom was surprisingly big, so he was pretty sure he wouldn't knock anything down, so long as he was careful. That was better than distracting Chris, he decided. So with a short nod he picked the disk back up and walked over to the desk near their bunk bed, shuffling his fingers through the drawer. It took him a moment to find what he was looking for, but it wasn't long before he extracted it with a pleased laugh. "Good thing Aviva has been collecting all sorts of DNA lately," He mused as he lifted out a small vial that contained a few coarse Rhino hairs. Lucky for Martin, the scientist had run out of room in her own desks and drawers, so until she could get some more a few samples were staying in other drawers scattered around the Tortuga.

With a gentle shake, the hairs fell out of the vial into Martin's palm, resting on the DNA sensing pads on his gloves long enough to be detected before he put the hair back, and then put the vial back into its proper place. "You know what, I bet Chris is going to be impressed when he sees how well I can use these Rhino powers," said Martin as he slipped the disk into the suit, "I'll surprise him, that's what I'll do! Activate!"

As soon as Martin touched the button at the center of his chest, a bright blue began rapidly spreading from the center out, quickly changing his appearance. Massive gloves covered his hands, and big powerful feet appeared, with a large rhino-shaped helmet materializing over his head at the same time. The final touch was a visor that fell in front of his eyes, seconds before the glow traveled up a massive horn on the top of the head before it faded altogether, completing his transformation.

He flexed his fingers and then balled them into fists, grinning, "Wo-hoah, check me out! I'm one of the strongest animals on the Savannah, next to the Elephant of course," Martin added in an undertone before turning around, pounding his fists together. "Now… let's see what this suit can do!"

Scuffing his foot against the ground, mimicking what a Rhino preparing to charge might do, he exhaled loudly through his nose before feigning a charge forwards, throwing his head downwards. Then he jerked it up, pretending he was trying to spear and then flip something that didn't exist a short afterimage appearing from the glowing horn in midair for a split second. Pleased at how light the suit seemed, Martin turned around quickly and thrust his horn out a second time, balling his fists at his sides. "Wish I had something to practice this horn action on, this suit is so cool!"

Careful what you wish for Martin.

He was really getting into the suit's powers now, turning on a dime as he thrust his horn into imaginary obstacles, and stomped his feet as he moved about the floor. Of course, he had forgotten how easily the suits could take on a life of their own, in the form of animal instinct. Martin didn't even realize that he had become more forceful with the thrusts of his horn, and he was almost running back and forth across the room at this point, nearly skewering one of the bedposts.

And then-

_CRRRACK_

He felt his entire body come to a frighteningly jarring halt all of a sudden, and the sound of splitting metal was deafening. There was a loud crackle of what sounded like electricity immediately following- it all happened so fast Martin barely had time to look up, his eyes traveling down his horn until he spotted where he had run right into the wall, tearing a nasty hole through it.

How could THAT get any worse? Oh wait, why was there electricity again-?

Martin jumped violently and covered his head with his hands when a transformer that he had severed blew, causing a loud hiss to issue from the hole in the wall before he was finally able to pull himself free. He staggered and nearly fell backwards, and as soon as he had detached from the wall, the lights flickered ominously-

And with one loud hum that signaled power loss, the lights went out. Not just in the bedroom where Martin was standing wide eyed, but all _over_ the Tortuga. Uh oh.

"Alright, I've just about got this information on beavers typed in…" Chris had muttered to himself mere minutes before, glancing at his watch. "Eight hours of work, and over a dozen species completed! Just a few more entries and I'll have this entire month logged and ready to g-" He trailed off when the lights above- including the screen- began to flicker. Then, without warning, everything shut down, plunging Chris into sudden darkness.

For a beat, he just sat there in stunned silence, staring with shock at the now completely black computer screen. Then he lifted visibly shaking hands, dropping them down helplessly onto the keyboard. "No…" He breathed before quickly sitting up, tapping a few of the keys, "No! No no, oh _NO_!" Then Chris looked back up at the unresponsive computer screen, his stomach dropping with horror. "Come on! No, no way!" But there was no bringing back the power- hours and hours of work….lost.

Chris didn't know when he had stood up, but he was standing now, his hands suspended before him with disbelief as he stared blankly at the computer, before collapsing into his chair, wheeling it back slightly with the force of his sitting. He lifted one of those shaking hands and cupped it over the side of his face, slowly turning his head to stare down into his lap, hardly believing what just happened.

He barely registered Aviva's voice as it came from the room adjacent to the atrium, followed by Koki, "Ay Dios Mio! What happened?" "Who turned out the lights?!" Chris didn't answer, but he could hear their footsteps as they entered the atrium, able to see due to the sunlight spilling in through the roof. "Chris! Chris are you still in here?" Aviva asked, squinting, just barely able to make out his hunched form in the chair near the main computer.

"Aviva-" Chris's voice came weakly, and Aviva knew exactly why. She carefully made her way over to his side, and cautiously extended a hand, resting it on her shoulder once she found it in the darkness, "Oh Chris… lo siento mucho….I'm _so_ sorry…" She whispered sadly, but he couldn't really find his voice to answer, the loss of all of his work really hitting him hard. Aviva glanced over at Koki with a grimace before tightening her grip a little on Chris's shoulder, letting go after a moment, "D..Don't worry- we…we'll figure out what happened to the power- …maybe if you let me get into the computer's system, I can somehow figure out how to recover your data, ok Chris….?"

Again, no response, but she hadn't been expecting one. Poor Chris sat without a word, still watching the unresponsive computer with pure disbelief. He didn't even notice that Aviva had quickly ran her fingers through the top Chris's hair in what she hoped was a reassuring motion before turning back to Koki, "Come on, let's find Jimmy- maybe we can find out what killed the power."

Chris couldn't help but hear Koki whisper to Aviva before they left the room, as distraught as he was, "Yeah, what do you think it was? …It might have just been me, but right before the power went I heard a nasty sounding crash from down below…"

Chris's eyes widened, and he sat up, all of his upset feelings fading for a split second. A crash from below?

Martin!

—

—

As soon as he had torn a hole right through the wall, Martin wasted no time deactivating, placing the disk on the desk for now because he couldn't see to put it away properly. "O-oh no….oh man-" He whispered, quickly jerking his power suit off and tossing it on the bed before stepping back. What had he done?!

He looked up as the sound of rapid footsteps above could be heard as someone moved from one part of the Tortuga to the other, and from the sound of it, they had gone into the atrium. Biting his lip, Martin headed quickly for the door, having to really force his way through since- without power- it wasn't automated. It took some doing, but Martin was finally able to get through, just in time to hear Aviva and Koki pass by. Yikes- Aviva was going to be _furious_ with him…

Instead of confronting her like he should have, he ducked down in the hallway leading to the atrium and waited for them to pass before sneaking out, glad at least that the hatch to the roof was open, giving him enough sunlight to see by. He frowned and waited a moment for his eyes to adjust, holding one hand against the wall just in-case, "Hello? …Is anyone in here?"

Chris stood up from where he had been sitting, alerted by his brother's familiar voice. "Martin? Bro what happened, are you alright?" Martin sighed shakily, and the two met halfway, sillouheted by the light pouring in through the ceiling. "Ye-eah Chris, I'm ok. Are you?" No, no he wasn't ok at all. But he offered Martin a halfhearted smile anyway, "I'm not hurt, if that's what you mean…." Martin seemed to be relieved, letting out a soft chuckle. "Oh good! You won't believe what just happened to me, right before the power went out-"

"U-uhh….I hate to cut you off, but….but can it wait Martin? …I'm…" Chris faltered, rubbing the back of his neck weakly, "I'm dealing with a bit of a problem…" Martin's smile faded slightly at that, "A problem…? …Why what happened…?" Oh Martin, you don't want to ask that, and frankly, your younger brother really doesn't want to have to explain what just happened to him. To say the least, he felt horrific to have worked so long and hard on all of those documents, just to have all of it disappear. And Martin's surprise….that went with it.

During Chris's preemptive pause, Martin let his smile grow back onto his face, hoping his explanation of what had happened would cheer him up a bit, no matter what had happened to make him so disheartened, "Well you see I was- ..I was down in our room just now, and I was actually testing out the Rhino suit for myself for the first time!" Blinking slowly, Chris looked back up at Martin, lowering his hand from where he had been running it weakly down the side of his face. "….Rhino suit….?" Martin nodded and jerked a thumb over his shoulder, towards the hallway he had just exited from, "Yeah I- …I didn't want to come upstairs to bother you so I was just testing it out inside, I didn't think I was going to hurt anything but I…" He glanced off to the side sheepishly, swaying a little, "I maay have accidently- …gouged a hole into the wall….aand…I guess you could say I'm responsible for this whole blackout!" He laughed.

The whole time Martin was explaining this however, Chris's expression slowly melted from one of sadness, to complete horror. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Normally Martin's laughter was infectious, and caused him to break down and join in no matter how aggravated he was- but this time, it caused him to twitch. "Ma….Martin you….._you're_ the one who…..blew the power out?" Chris leaned back a little when Martin nodded, still smiling, "Yeaaaahh, but it was just an accident! The instincts of the Rhino overpowered me!" He narrowed his gaze, and then playfully punched Chris in the arm. "But don't worry, I bet Aviva will be able to fi-"

"_**YOU**_blew the power!" Suddenly cut off by Chris's unexpected outburst, Martin looked back over at his brother, who was glaring daggers at him. "You-….You were using the RHINO SUIT…._Inside!?_ What were you thinking?" Ok woah, what was happening here?…. Martin lifted his hands a little in defense, his smile quickly fading slightly, "W-woah there Chris, I- ….I was going to take it outside but I-….I didn't want to bother y-"

Again, Martin was interrupted by Chris, who threw one hand in a wild gesture back towards the computer, his voice rising an octave with disbelief, "I was working on hundreds of creature species documents, and have been for HOURS Martin! Hours! A-…And every last bit of it is gone!" Quickly, any humor that had been in Martin's expression before disappeared, his chest tightening with shock when he realized what he'd done, "O….oh…..oh Chris I-…..I'm so sorry…."

He reached out to place his hand gently on Chris's shoulder, but without warning he jerked back, never taking his eyes off of Martin. "Why couldn't you have gone outside, any one of us would have! You know as well as I do you can do some real damage with the suits, and now look what happened!" As Chris said this, Martin's mouth opened slightly, he having a hard time taking in this burst of unusual anger from his younger sibling, "…C-Chris I- ….I said I was sorry! I…I didn't know you w-were…..were working on something I- ….."

But Chris was inconsolable as he took another step back from Martin. The more Martin spoke, the angrier at him he seemed to get, "Yeah, w-well sorry isn't going to bring all of my hard work back!" He was on the verge of yelling now, his fists balled tightly at his sides. Every time he spoke the sunlight above flashed off of his eyes, making him look even angrier in this dim light. Martin was stunned.

"….Sorry might not…bring the work back Chris but- .." Martin shook his head a little, "What's gotten into you?"

Those simple words seemed to drive Chris into nothing short of a blind fury, causing him to stomp forwards and get right up into Martin's face, "What's gotten into_ ME_!? _YOU_ have that's what! You don't understand how hard I worked to get all of that typed up! It's ALL. **GONE**. MARTIN. A-and…and it wouldn't be if you didn't kill the power!"

Ok, now Martin was getting angry too. Chris's chest was puffed out into his like an angry puffer fish, but Martin was taller so he was able to glare down at Chris no matter how close he ventured, "Look, I said I was sorry! Isn't that _enough_?!"

"No!" Chris's voice rose another octave, his voice breaking as he really started screaming this time, "NO! It's NOT enough! You ruined everything! You- …" Without Chris even realizing it, he just kept on going, not really caring _what_ he said at this point, "You _RUIN_ everything!" And with that last sentence, as if to enunciate it, Chris shoved Martin back as hard as he could with both hands, and it caught him offguard enough to where he stumbled and staggered backwards in the darkness.

Chris watched Martin fade into the darkness of the atrium as he fell from the range of the sunlight, trembling now with rage. Poor Martin couldn't stop himself until fell back and hit the wall from the force of his brother's push, knocking into a nearby shelf so forcefully that a few beakers and vials cascaded from it, shattering onto the floor. Both brothers breathing heavily, Martin looked back up at Chris sharply, his eyes wide with shock at what he'd just done to him. Chris- for the moment- seemed impervious to the pitiful look on Martin's face, because he was grinding his teeth together with barely bridled fury.

Then, Martin felt a horrible stinging creeping up the side of his arm, causing him to reach a hand over to touch the spot. He ran a shaking hand from his elbow to where his wrist met his palm, and then brought it up to his eyes. There was just enough light for him to see that one of the bottles had sliced a gash into his forearm, and once he realized he'd been cut he could feel hot blood running down his skin.

Not sure if Chris could see or not, Martin took a few shaky breaths, reaching over to press his hand around the cut again. He went to open his mouth to say something, but Chris seemed to be advancing on him again, throwing his hands into the air a second time, "Just-…j-just get OUT of here Martin! I don't want to even- ..I-…JUST-"

_"GET, OUUT!"_

Martin drew back against the shelf, tightening his grip over his arm before panicking and darting from Chris's field of view, almost afraid he would be struck again. All of his own anger had faded when Chris pushed him- and now he just wanted to escape from the Tortuga.

Chris's angry cry still echoed throughout the atrium, and seemed to follow him as he barreled over to the nearest hatch, skidding into the hallway, nearly colliding with the wall in his haste to run. And Chris watched him go, his brown eyes glaring as his brother ran, unable to see the blood he was trying to stem with fumbling fingers.

Unable to see the tears that had begun to well in Martin's eyes as he stumbled outside, his breath choking in his throat as he ran. Not only to get out of the Tortuga-

But to get away from Chris.


	2. Realization

For the longest time, the interior of the Tortuga was completely silent, save for the incessant ringing of the guttural scream Chris had just let out that seemed to linger. Now, Chris was alone in the atrium, standing stiffly in the area still illuminated with sunlight. Martin was gone.

There was an even longer pause as Chris stood there, trying to compose himself, but the longer he stood in the darkness the more he was reminded of the stupid mistake his brother had made that could have easily been avoided. He clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides as he finally moved from where he had been standing, angrily beating his fist down onto the platform in the center of the room as he passed it. He hadn't felt this angry-this _frustrated_-in a long time. He wouldn't admit it, but it was partly because he was disappointed that his surprise for Martin had been abolished. That, however, was no excuse, for his rage towards his older brother right now was unparalleled with anything else.

After a few steps, there was a telltale crunching of broken glass as his boots stepped on the remains of the beakers that toppled from the shelf. Then Chris pivoted and turned back to face the doors, just as a cracked bottle rolled out from under the shelf and bumped into his shoe, coming to a stop in front of him. He grimaced and pulled his foot back a little.

Chris could see his reflection in the beaker, just barely visible in the dim light. His expression was foul, and twisted with anger, with the crack splitting right through the center of his face. He barely bit back a cry of frustration as he suddenly kicked the bottle with as much force as he could muster, sending it flying towards the platform in the center of the atrium. It was only after the shattering of the beaker against the platform cut the silence did he hear a voice from the door leading to the barracks cry out.

"Chris, _stop_!"

Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy were standing crowded in the doorway, watching him with shock. Brushing a lock of his hair back nervously, Jimmy spoke next, only matching Chris's gaze for a moment, "We….we heard yelling up here- we thought something had happened…." Then Koki was next, frowning sadly, "We…kinda saw…everything."

"So what? I don't care if you were standing there the whole time!" Chris suddenly blurted, stepping back a bit. "Martin's the one who killed the power, I hope you heard that! He…He just-" He shook his head hard and went to say something else, but then his eyes caught again on the pile of shattered glass Martin had left in his wake. It was glittering in the light- but not just from the properties of the glass.

It was shimmering with liquid.

"…Chris, I can't _believe_ you just did that to Martin! It's one thing to be mad at him, but to push him into the wall like that?" Aviva scolded, skating forwards a little with Jimmy and Koki following her closely, all three of them watching Chris as he approached the shelf again. Aviva's gaze narrowed and she ventured closer, folding her arms hard across her chest. "Are you even listening to me? Chris!" She barked, but he didn't respond. He had stopped in front of the glass and stooped down onto one knee, reaching out carefully to pick up a piece of the glass, careful not to cut himself on it.

He held it up close to his face, not noticing as the rest of the crew walked over, stopping a few yards away. "…Chris….?" Koki whispered after a moment, watching Chris with confusion written on her face. "What is it….?"

Chris couldn't find it in him to respond. It felt like someone had slugged him square in the chest, knocking all of the wind right out of him. Obviously his change in demeanor was apparent in his expression, because the crew fell oddly silent as they watched him kneeling there. For there, on the shard of glass he'd picked up off the ground-

there was blood.

His gaze traveled down from the glass to the floor, to the rest of the broken pieces. Blood.

Everywhere, blood.

He hadn't noticed it before, but he sure noticed it now, splattered across the glass and parts of the askew shelf and wall, until it turned into a trail that followed Martin's erratic path out of the Tortuga. Chris watched the blood drop from the end of the piece of glass. He could see his reflection once more in the glass, in the sickly, sticky sheen of the blood, and the look of horror on his face had changed him into a different person, from the reflection he had seen before.

Finally he lowered the piece and looked up a little, taking in a long, deep breath. Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy were watching him, stunned. Aviva's hand had drifted up to cover her mouth as she took in the scene, all of them realizing what had happened all at the same time. The glass shattered on Martin. Cutting him, who knows how badly. Nobody could see in the darkness, not even Martin himself.

But there was something else. The glass was shimmering with liquid, yes… but not just blood. Something had been inside those vials and beakers. Chris could see it now, just visible in the darkness, pools of stuff lying stagnant amongst the glass on the floor.

Slowly, he looked back over at the crew, where Jimmy was beginning to look a bit pale from the sight of all the blood. It was a wonder he hadn't passed out yet. In the silence that followed, Chris swallowed hard, blinking a few times to clear his vision. "…..Aviva…wh- …..what was inside these beakers?" he breathed.

Aviva's eyes darted from the glass on the floor up to Chris's eyes, and his heart sank when she shook her head, "..Chris.." "_What_ was in them!?" He stood up stiffly, dropping the glass from his hand. Then, Aviva lowered her hand from her mouth and lifted her head a little, "…I….I don't know Chris. I-…I have so many different vials all around the Tortuga he…any kind of bottle could have broken on him."

The crew watched Chris as he glanced back down at the glass for a second before looking back up, his voice thick,

"I gotta find Martin."

—

—

—

The area where the Tortuga was currently parked was a temperate forest, somewhere in North America. It had been a sunny day, but clouds were beginning to cloud the skies, blocking out the bright, life-giving rays every now and then. Jimmy had been able to find a nice, open clearing for the turtle shaped ship to rest, with tall wispy grass that flanked its metal sides. It was windy, signalling a storm approaching, and bent the blades down until their tips were nearly kissing the earth.

They were being flattened by heavy, stumbling footfalls as a figure suddenly tumbled from a side hatch on the Tortuga, breath leaving him in short, shallow gasps. Martin's fist was clenched tightly over the wound on his arm- he hadn't stopped running since he started, so he had no idea how long, or how deep the cut was. All he knew was that it was bleeding. A lot. Not good, not good.

His first thought was to find a shady spot just outside the Tortuga to sit in the grass and check himself, but he quickly decided against that. Chris wasn't about to come looking for him, but Aviva, Koki, or Jimmy might. He didn't want anyone to find him, he didn't want to talk to anyone.

He wanted to get away.

So, with his heart thudding painfully in his chest, Martin continued to run with a new bit of wind in his sails, if it only meant that he would be able to get away, off to himself where he wouldn't be found or bothered. He thought about how, if he was gone long enough, they would be looking for him. He was glad he left his creature pod in his room, but he didn't have much hope that…..

….they wouldn't look for him…..right….?

As he ran, Chris's words came back to him full force, just before his brother- his own little brother- struck him out of anger.

_"NO! It's NOT enough! You ruined everything! You- …You RUIN everything!"_

That's right. He ruins everything. Martin's eyes widened a little, and he had to blink them hard to clear his vision as they misted over, before he accidentally collided with a tree. He was just the big joke. He always had been. They weren't laughing with him.

They were laughing **at** him.

He did ruin everything, and-

Now Chris was showing his true colors, letting him know how he really felt about his brother.

It's really surprising, just how far you can run when you're fueled by adrenaline, by pain, and by fear. The clearing- and the Tortuga- were both lost in the distance, and Martin's only company were trees as far as the eye could see, and various woodland creatures that had been stirred from their homes to see what all the commotion was about. Birds were startled from the bushes as he careened past, and they flew up to light on branches just above his head, watching curiously as he passed. No matter how frantic, the animals sensed Martin meant them no harm. If anything, he was more afraid of everything else than they were of him right now.

He continued this pace for quite some time, until his body was ready to give out, and he simply couldn't keep it up any longer. The trees and undergrowth had become thick, and the foliage above was so thick that if the Tortuga tried to find him by searchlight, it would be impossible. It was horrible, feeling like he had to hide himself away from his own friends. And yet somehow, he was getting the feeling that they wouldn't even care in the first place.

He was the joke, _right?!_

With a loud exhale Martin finally collapsed at the base of a large oak tree, who's branches stretched so far out into the forest they looked like the arms of an ancient guardian that had taken the form of a mighty tree, to watch over the land. His entire body trembled with exhaustion as he gasped loudly for air, the side of his face resting against the tree.

It was quite some time before Martin could find it in him to lift his arm, which felt heavy, like it was filled with lead. His mouth gaped as he breathed heavy, sharp breaths, rolling up his sleeve with fumbling fingers. Oh it was terrible.

The cut reached all the way down the base of his forearm, and though it wasn't incredibly deep, it must have struck enough flesh to cause it to bleed heavily. His entire hand by now had been coated with crimson, his fingers twitching and trembling as he struggled to get a good look at them. But it wasn't just the blood. It was the pain.

It was like someone had lit a fire under his arm, and wouldn't take it away. It was roiling throughout his skin, all the way to the tips of his fingers and back, and there was no explanation why. Like someone had poured an entire bottle of rubbing alcohol right into the cut. It hurt. It hurt and it was barely a pain he could stand. Normally he was so strong- he was like a rock, not only for himself, but for everyone else. He had always been strong for his little brother, who he loved unconditionally from the day he was born. He'd always be strong for him. Make him laugh when he was sad- ….make him happy when he was angry. Chris had never seen Martin cry.

But Martin-

Martin**_ failed._**

He pulled his legs close to his chest, which was beginning to tighten uncomfortably. His hand slipped from his wound, the blood making it hard to hang onto his arm. It was starting to clot up a bit at least, but he had nothing to stem the blood with, and it was too cold to take his shirt off. He gritted his teeth so tight that they could break, closing his eyes as hard as he could. Don't you do it, he told himself even as he curled up against the base of the tree trunk. He opened his eyes halfway and stared into the forest, where the sun was slowly beginning to set. He could almost hear Chris commenting on how much fun these trees would be to climb. Could almost see him grinning- could almost feel him nudging his shoulder to get him to '_stop being a slowpoke and keep up, or are you starting to slow down on me_?'

He couldn't hold it back, and without even meaning to a loud scream erupted from his lungs before it broke off into loud, wretched sobs that he couldn't contain.

"Auh…uhgnh….uhgn…." The harder he tried to stop, the more the cries left him, and he could feel tears streaming down his cheeks, dripping off his chin.

Not just from the pain- …but…._Chris_… he just couldn't be strong this time.

_Martin cried._


	3. The Search

It had been an hour now- and Aviva Corcovado knew that this was not good. Not good at _all._

She was hunched over on her knees in Chris and Martin's bedroom, with a toolbox sitting at her side. Reaching up she switched on the headlamp she was wearing before leaning in close to examine the damage that Martin had done to the wall. He had pierced cleanly through the metal like a hot knife through butter, the powerful Rhino horn having no trouble at all breaking the surface. Upon doing that, he had severed a main power line that connected to the power breaker in the 'garage' of sorts beneath the atrium of the Tortuga- and of course Martin panicking and pulling the horn out (at the same time tearing apart a whole bundle of wires) didn't help the situation.

Aviva clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth before leaning back on her heels, reaching into her toolbox to pull out a pair of pliers. She had just gone to work ripping out the severed wires as Koki made her way into the room, feeling the doorway with her hands to avoid running into anything, "Aviva, are you in here…? I figured you might need some help down here.."

"Yeah, Martin really did a number on the power here…" Aviva explained, brandishing the pliers full of broken wires for emphasis. "It's going to take a while to get this repaired…" Koki nodded as she leaned up against the bunk bed not far from the hole in the wall, watching as Aviva discarded the wires before reaching back in to pull out another bunch. "Yeah, and just before the power went I received reports of a heavy storm rolling in from the East… so no solar power."

This was disappointing, and caused Aviva's heart to sink. So that meant the only bits of power they had to use right now would be anything that ran off of batteries, and anything that had been charged previously. Thank goodness Chris and Martin had charged their creature pods that morning…but too bad Martin had left without his. It would be impossible to contact him that way.

In the lapse of silence that followed, Aviva remembered those beakers.. filled with some undetermined liquid that had not only been shattered, but shattered_ON_ Martin. The trail of blood proved he had been cut, and the amount proved that he was bleeding pretty heavily. It would have been impossible for that liquid not to miss his wound, and the big question was-

What was it?

It could be anything, conceivably.

In the best case scenario, it was simply some sort of scent she had collected, something harmless. Maybe extracted DNA of a certain animal. It was really hard to say.

Then her mind drifted to what else it could be.

Any sort of caustic liquid. Battery acid from one of her machines… dangerous, even toxic chemicals….

Snake venom samples.

With a barely concealed noise of distress, she jerked the pliers free from the hole, pulling the last of the bad wires out, leaving the ones that COULD be reconnected and the ones that Martin had managed to leave untouched. Then she switched the headlamp to a dimmer setting before looking up at Koki, struggling to keep her composure. "…Koki- ..y…you're good with welding, do you think you can solder these wires back together? …t-then maybe I can figure out a way to get our emergency generator going."

Koki nodded slowly, stepping back quickly towards the door while Aviva stiffly put her tools away, "Sure thing- I'll go get my stuff, I'll have those wires fixed in no time!" At least she was trying to be optimistic, Aviva thought as Koki left, and as she stood back up, wavering a little. Her legs felt weak from this realization- if Martin had gotten the worst of the beakers broken on him…..well.

She closed her eyes tightly for a second and took a deep breath. No, no- best to not think about that. She did NOT want to think about that. "Vamos Aviva, el enfoque. Tienes que ayudar a Martin…." muttered Aviva under her breath before she quickly left the bedroom, heading straight for the atrium where Martin had been shoved into the shelf. She needed to somehow figure out which of those beakers broke on him- therefore discovering what sort of liquid had seeped into his wound. He'd nearly knocked down the shelf's entire contents with his girth- it would take a while.

And even then, who knows if the labels on the beakers held? There was no way to tell what went with which- and the Tortuga didn't have power right now. She couldn't run a DNA test.

That didn't stop her however as she made her way to the atrium, passing Koki who had donned her welding gear to get to work on the hole in the wall. The normally bright, active center of the turtle-shaped ship was deathly silent, the aftermath of everything that had happened lingering in the air like smoke. Pausing on her way to the askew shelf, Aviva's eyes caught on the glass pods that served as holding chambers for the power suits- and Chris's was missing. She had known Chris would probably have immediately left to look for his brother, and she couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief when she noticed he had brought his creature pod with him.

Seeing Martin's sitting there alone, however, snapped her back to the reality of the situation.

Quickly, Aviva skated over to where the glass still sat on the floor in piles, and was disappointed to find that the contents of all of the beakers had mixed together into massive pools on the floor. "Good thing I decided color coding my mixtures would be a good idea…" Aviva mused as she grabbed her bag from the table nearby, and pulled out a few syringes and vials. Then she went to work carefully getting a sample of each different substance before putting them into vials.

There were three different liquids- the rest had either been empty beakers, or hadn't shattered on contact with the ground (or Martin). One was a deep blue, one was pale red, and the last was a sickly yellow color. None of them looked promising, least of all the yellow one, so Aviva corked the three vials carefully before putting them carefully into the front pocket of her bag.

Martin's blood had been scattered over almost all of the glass- and perhaps the shard that actually cut him was either still imbedded in his arm, or fell out while he was running. Either way, it was going to be impossible to find out which beaker had broken on him until they actually found him.

And that alone was frightening.

Now that she had gotten the samples though, she was stuck. The computer she used to make the creature power disks was completely down, and if what Koki said was correct about the storm, solar power wouldn't be an option.

What were her options…?

—

Outside, the storm was just now beginning to roll in. The wind was picking up something fierce, howling gently as it beat against the steel outside of the Tortuga. Jimmy could see the rain gently beginning to hit the windshield of the cockpit, watching as it slowly increased in intensity as time wore on. With a heavy sigh he pulled his legs up into his chair close to his chest before folding his arms over his knees.

As lightning flashed ominously, lighting up the sky momentarily, he couldn't help but wonder where Martin was. He had never heard the brothers go at each other this badly before, and even then they didn't take long to make up and forget it even happened.

But somehow it was different this time. It _felt_ different.

And Martin running like that…? …that really caught him off-guard. Martin was the strong one, and what happened with Chris must have really taken a toll on him to scare him that badly. Jimmy wasn't there when it happened, but he heard the yelling…the breaking glass…. it didn't take a rocket scientist to piece the situation together, and it certainly was a sticky one.

Shifting a little in his chair to get comfortable, Jimmy slowly pulled off his hat and placed it on the control panel next to where his controller was sitting. Even though the brothers were outside 99 percent of the time anyway, it felt so quiet in the Tortuga now. Chris had left immediately to go find Martin, Aviva was in the atrium, and Koki was trying to help fix the power. And here Jimmy sat, having not done much else past messing with the controls in the cockpit to see if he could get anything to work somehow. Negative.

"Gee….You think Martin's alright..?" He whispered, actually to his controller but anyone passing by would have assumed he was talking to himself. "I…I know the brothers can handle themselves out in the wild and stuff…but he's _hurt."_Jimmy grimaced and brushed his hair back nervously, thinking about how far away Martin might be even now. It made him feel bad, to know that there wasn't really anything he could do to help. Not without power to the Tortuga.

He felt powerless, but so did the rest of the crew.

"Jimmy!"

He jumped violently when someone's voice coming from behind was in sync with a loud thunderclap outside, nearly expelling him from his chair. Thankfully though it was just Aviva, who skated quickly into the cockpit with Martin's creature pod in her hands. "H-hey Aviva… what's up?" He managed, a hand pressed to his chest from where she startled him. Aviva had a torn expression on her face as she sat down in the chair opposite Jimmy's, holding out the creature pod for him to see.

"I have an idea that might allow me to figure out what was in those beakers that Martin shattered." She explained, pushing the button on the creature pod to turn it on. "If I can tap into Martin's creature pod, I might be able to change it's configuration enough for it to be able to tell me what certain substances are made out of. It can run scans on creatures, so I figure with some slight adjustments I can make this work." Noting her expression, Jimmy sat up a bit straighter, putting his hat back on, "But there's a problem, isn't there?"

Aviva nodded sadly, "Yeah, unfortunately. You see I- …..if I leave Martin's creature pod turned on to do the changes, it'll run down its battery. If it dies, we have no way to charge it- no power. And….we wouldn't be able to contact Chris if he got into trouble, or found Martin." Jimmy frowned and lowered his legs from the chair, "Well I saw Chris take his creature power suit with him before he left….so I'm sure he's got some fast animal disks in case he has to bring Martin back in a hurry….?"

While that was true, Jimmy kept forgetting about the storm, and was reminded with another furious flash of lightning, followed by rolling thunder. "That all depends on if he can find the animals corresponding to the disks…and I doubt he took the time to take any DNA samples." whispered Aviva as she rested the pod on her knees with a sigh. "So….it's either run a chance on losing contact with Chris to figure out what was in those beakers….or saving the pod so Chris can contact us."

Jimmy felt like he was definitely NOT the right person to ask…yet here Aviva was, asking for his opinion on what she should do. "W-well uhm…..what do you think would be best to do? …..either way, both options are going to help AND hurt at the same time…." Raising her head a little to look at him, Aviva realized Jimmy was right. Then they both looked back down at the creature pod which she had picked back up as lightning flashed again.

They had a tough decision to make.

—

—

By now, even though it was just now starting to get a bit later in the evening, the storm had turned the forest into a strange limbo between night and day. The canopy of trees in the forest was so thick that what little sunlight was left was blocked out, plunging the world below into nearly complete darkness.

It was through this darkness that Chris was charging, slipping and stumbling on the slick leaves underfoot every now and then as he went, often times landing nearly knee deep into mud puddles brought on by the rain. His breath was coming and going in loud gasps as he panted, his lungs burning. It had been colder earlier in the day, but the humidity brought on by the rain made it difficult to breathe. After running for quite some time, until the Tortuga was out of sight, Chris turned to a place he could really shine.

The trees.

As out of breath as he was, Chris latched onto the tree like he had been born knowing how to climb, and within a few minutes he had scaled his way to the top. He perched on the furthest reaching branch that he could safely reach, and squinted through the storm, holding a hand over his eyes to shield it from the rain. He was getting SOAKED, so he knew he would have to be careful not to climb into a tree that was too high up off the ground. Once he made it up here, he looked out into every direction, and with every turn he would scream.

_"MARTIN!"_

But his only response would be his echo, which sounded like another desperate person on the other edge of the forest desperately calling back to him. Sometimes, he would be answered by a blinding flash of lightning, followed by the inevitable clap of thunder. Disappointed, Chris brushed his sopping hair from his eyes before jumping to a shorter branch, shimmying back down the tree trunk before hopping down to the ground to go a bit farther and find another one.

The vantage points were a plus, but the trek and all the climbing was taxing on his body. With each climb he was getting more and more exhausted, and by the fifth tree his arms were trembling as they struggled to hold him onto the tree. He resented the fact that he hadn't gotten some Draco Lizard DNA, but it was too late for that now. Probably dangerous to use creature powers in this storm too.

And with each tree he climbed, his efforts were becoming even more fruitless. But Chris wasn't about to give up.

Nature seemed to have other plans however, as with each passing minute the storm got worse and worse. Rain was coming down in torrents, causing small rivers of water to rush over the ground near the bases of the trees. And the trees themselves? …they were becoming nearly impossible to climb- the bark was becoming saturated and would peel off at the slightest notice, causing Chris to have to cling to the tree to keep from falling off.

Even now as he climbed tree number 8, he felt his body make an unexpected shift halfway up. And he didn't feel like falling 20 feet to the ground. **_"Auugh!"_**He lamented loudly as he braced himself with both arms and legs, struggling to hold his head back as he slid down the trunk a good ten feet, the bark sending splinters painfully into his legs and arms. After he finally stopped, he glared up into the tree's branches, his teeth gritted as he fought back tears of pain.

Then, he continued to climb.

He didn't stop until he had reached the top either, or as far as he could go without his weight making the tree top bend. He shuddered and held onto the tree trunk for support, his knees literally shaking as he squinted out into the storm.

"MARTIN! WHERE _ARE_ YOU!?"

His voice broke just as lightning flashed again, a massive lightning bolt streaking across the sky before hitting a tree with an ear-splitting crack somewhere in the distance. The tree must have been massive, Chris noted dimly, to be hit with such force.

Had to be the tallest tree in the whole forest, reaching out the farthest, surely.

Chris didn't trust himself just yet to climb down from the tree, but his mind wasn't working well with his body right now. No matter how tired he was, he was so upset he could barely think straight. All he could think about was Martin. He closed his eyes tightly as the lightning struck a second time, closer than the last.

He remembered that look on Martin's face, of mingled horror and desperation.

And then he remembered the look on his own face, when he had seen himself in that cracked beaker on the floor. The look in his eyes…it was frightening. And he didn't blame Martin for running away like he did. Call him crazy for his mood about this situation changing so quickly-

But Martin was his _BROTHER._ And what he had done was uncalled for, and for it to take inflicting bodily harm on the person that meant the most to him in the world for him to realize that?

It made him tremble all the harder, his fingers fumbling for purchase on the tree. He had run out of energy to call out for Martin anymore, but he knew wasting the little energy he HAD left to do that would be pointless. Nobody could hear him, not in this storm. He would have to wait for it to slack off.

That didn't mean he would stop looking.

So, with a deep breath, Chris tilted his head back a little to let the cold rain strike him in the face, giving him the extra burst of energy he needed to detach himself from the tree and step down to the nearest branch.

At that same exact moment, lightning stuck the ground a few hundred yards away, in such a powerful burst that everything in its vicinity groaned and shook, as if an earthquake had just occurred. Just as Chris was moving to put his foot down.

He was helpless as he was jarred, and his foot missed the branch and plunged sharply into the abyss, sending the rest of his body careening after it, tumbling head over heels right over the thickest part of the branch with a horrible cry. He tried to reach out and grab some part of the tree to save himself, but there was nothing, and so he toppled, cutting a flip in midair before he began to fall with his back facing the ground.

Not good, NOT GOOD

A second scream issued from him as he struggled to right himself in midair, the wind icy against his waterlogged body as he toppled at a breakneck speed towards the unforgiving ground. Flash-backs of his horrible experience with the Draco Lizards hit him all of a sudden out of NOWHERE, and he seemed paralyzed with fear as he fell, his body lurching as he screamed, his voice rising an octave. Hadn't he gotten over that…? Perhaps it wasn't the height that scared him.

But the inevitable fall.

Now he could barely see as he fell, but he did feel that he had turned and was falling down stomach first. Just as he figured he would have an untimely end as he connected with the ground, the branches became more dense, and he struck one of them- which bent to hold his weight, and then allowed him to fall again. Over and over this happened until he had finally slowed a great deal, to the point where when he finally DID stop it wasn't as abrupt. He fell hard on his chest at the base of a high reaching branch, probably at least 15 feet off the ground still, and the blow was so forceful all of the wind left his lungs.

Not a good place to be hit, just in the junction where your ribs meets your stomach.

Chris wheezed, his eyes widening as he reached down to grab onto the branch even though he couldn't push himself up. Ow. Ow ow OW. Thankfully for him- when it came to NOT hitting the ground- the branch was oddly wide and thick, and gave him a lot of area to lie on. But unfortunately, that made his landing less than pleasurable.

A thin squeak came from his throat as he finally pushed himself off and onto his back, his chest trying to heave even though he couldn't draw a breath. The rain continued to come down on Chris in sheets, and it was this that made him realize his suit was sparking fiercely, reflecting off the drops of rain hitting him. The paw-pad in the center had- once _again-_ been shattered- only severely this time around. And he couldn't help it as the rain came in a deluge, seeping right into his suit.

He knew what was coming next.

Chris cried out with the only breath he had in him as the suit fried and shocked him, causing his limbs to go rigid. Green energy flickered and snaked up his arms and legs, snapping off and repeating the cycle like a Tesla coil. He felt his fingers begin to tingle as he twitched, and then they started to go numb from the tips inward.

And then, as soon as it had started it was over, a thin stream of smoke curling up from the center of the suit as he continued to twitch, unable to control his muscles after that barrage of what was nothing short than electrocution.

Now as Chris lay there on the branch, everything hurt. His legs dangled over the edge of the branch into the expanse of air below, and his arms lay uselessly at his sides as his body fought to calm down from that attack. He could barely breath, each breath felt like he was trying to inhale with a weight lying square on his chest. It could be feasible that he'd broken a rib or two, but he was too dazed to tell or care.

Chris couldn't tell how long he lied there before he chanced sitting up, but when he did, he wished he hadn't. Broken pieces of the front of his suit fell off when he moved, and it felt like someone had stabbed a spear right between his ribs. It didn't help that the second after he moved the world began to spin, turning the trees sideways, and the sky into the ground.

Without warning, he clutched the tree trunk for support and lurched, vomiting over the side of the tree when nausea suddenly overcame him.

So much for keeping himself together.

He choked and shuddered and pulled back after a minute, gasping for air before he retched a second time, even though there was nothing else for his body to expell. He continued this lurching and retching for a minute before he was finally ok, pulling his legs up onto the tree branch as he shuddered and shook. The rain above now was methodic as it fell down, causing him to shiver. Good thing the suits had a fail-safe for this sort of thing….it wasn't life threatening, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

…was this how Martin felt?

They were both alone. Only….who knows where Martin was.

Or if he would even come back. Did he _want_ to come back…?

Even after all Chris had done, Martin wanted nothing MORE than to come back.

The two were just too far away to tell each other that.


	4. The Storm

**Author's note: Finally, chapter four is complete! It's a bit scattered and choppy since I had this idea for the story at last minute. But I hope it was worth the wait. Enjoy!**

* * *

Martin couldn't quite remember ending up lying on his side next to the base of the mighty tree, nor could he really recall when he had finally fallen silent. But for quite a while now, the only sounds he had heard was the roar of the wind through the tree limbs accompanied by the crashing thunder overhead. He took in a shuddering breath, and pulled his legs a bit closer to his chest.

The storm was getting worse.

By now he was completely soaked through and chilled to the bone, his body wracked with uncontrollable shivers. It wasn't clear whether he was trembling due to the cold jacket sticking to his skin, or a fever. It could very well be both, but right now Martin didn't really care. Rather...he hadn't the energy to care.

Every now and then, Martin's eyes would lazily glance over to look at his arm, which was no longer throbbing, and had just become numb. It felt lifeless, like it was no longer even a part of his body. It even felt like he was looking at someone elses arm, considering how swollen the area around the wound had become, the blood caked appendage completely transformed into something unusable.

He was certianly no doctor, but it didn't look good at all.

Though he couldn't really make much use of his arm right now, the pain still lingered. It came in sharp pangs, stabbing up through his shoulder, and on to the rest of his body. It caused his head to pulse, and even the entire rest of his form to ache. Every shiver, every tremble hurt. Martin's breathing had become shallow, his skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat that could easily be mistaken for rain.

But above all, he was starting to lose connection of what was happening. Where he was. Why he was here. ...what had happened over the last hour. And why he was in so much pain.

With every passing minute the confusion increased until he finally lay there in a daze, the world feeling like it was underwater. Every loud crash of thunder sounded like it was coming from a mile away. The blinding flashes of lightning were painful to his eyes, and he could still see the brightness through his eyelids.

He wished it would stop.

Martin just wanted everything to stop.

If anything though, it seemed like time was slowing down, making everything go by at a slower pace that he could actually cope with. It gave him a momentary sense of peace, no matter how confused he felt currently. So, to keep the pain at bay, Martin focused on the things he could feel, to keep him calmed down.

Though he was still shaking like a leaf, the sodden bits of dead leaves and plant matter he was lying in felt cool against his flushed face. He slowly flexed the fingers on his good hand, carefully moving them amongst the litter on the ground, clenching his fist every now and then, just to give him something to do. The biggest thought he had on his mind though, was the realization that he was feeling extremely tired.

Martin couldn't ever remember feeling this sleepy in his whole life. He couldn't help but think that not even the icy rain, nor the loud thunder, or the flashing lightning would be able to keep him awake. Cautiously, he closed his eyes for a minute, just to rest.

Just to rest.

Then, he heard footsteps. Frantic ones, and they were LOUD. They thudded painfully against the earth, feeling like miniature earth quakes to him. His head started throbbing afresh, and he opened his eyes a sliver with a low hiss of pain. Unable to hold them open for too long however, he let his eyelids drift closed again, just before a pair of boots came into his line of sight.

He dimly felt his body being shifted, and that simple movement alone caused the entire world to spin. Martin felt his chest tighten, and his breathing quicken unexpectedly at the feeling of a pair of hands gripping him by his remaining arm, holding him aloft, free from the wet ground. He could still feel the cold rain hitting him in the face even with his eyes shut, rolling down either side of his head to drip off his jaws and hair.

The figure holding him up seemed to say something, but it was drowned out by a horribly loud crack of thunder that rattled the night sky. The force of the lightning strike was so violent that it forced Martin's eyes open, if only for a moment.

_"Martin! Martin, stay with me!"_

...

"...Chris..." Martin spoke for the first time since he had left the Tortuga, his voice raspy and barely audible. Like his arm, it felt like it belonged to another person other than himself. He could hear Chris, he knew he could. Calling out to him through the storm. Begging for him to hang on, if only for a bit longer.

A small smile twitched at the corners of Martin's mouth as he balled his fist in the dead leaves again, letting out a deep sigh. The wind continued to whistle and howl to him as it tore through the trees. And there, lying prone on the ground, Martin closed his eyes and let the world slow down to a stop.

His fingers tensed, and then relaxed, his hand releasing the leaves to lie still on the wet earth. He couldn't hear Chris anymore, and he no longer appeared to be in his brother's grasp. He dimly wondered why that was, as the rain continued to cover him in sheets. Martin wondered this, and it was his last thought before the world went dark, and his consciousness plunged underwater once more.

Perhaps it was because Chris went for help, Martin thought as everything finally fell silent, and the pain slipped away.

Or...perhaps.

It was because Chris was never really there.

* * *

A mile away, the real Chris had taken an entire hour to compose himself enough to climb down from the tree and continue on his way, albeit a lot more slowly this time around.

His breath came in labored pants as he crashed through the undergrowth, abandoning the treetops for the moment not only because of the nasty fall he had experienced, but because the storm had intensified a frightening amount. With every step he took his power suit sparked and crackled audibly, reminding him that he wouldn't like being electrocuted twice in one night.

But enough was enough. Time was slipping away, and the sun had almost completely disappeared over the horizon. He needed to find Martin.

Before it was too late, if it wasn't already.

Just the thought of this caused a sour taste to collect in Chris's mouth, so he struggled to banish this idea from his mind as he continued to make his way. He hoped at least that by the time he did find Martin, he would be able to get the crew over in a matter of minutes to help. ...Maybe Aviva had figured out what was in those beakers from before.

Chris could only hope, and it was a dim hope at that.

Somehow, he couldn't help but think he would have found Martin by now if it wasn't storming. In fact, he knew he would have. His sense of direction might not be spot on- but he knew how to track from his years working with animals. All he would have had to look for were footprints, broken twigs and limbs, and the blood-trail of his wounded older brother. He would have found him hours ago if that were the case, but undoubtably the rain had washed all previous evidence of him completely away.

Now, Chris's path was nothing short of a shot in the dark. But he HAD to keep looking. This was all his fault, and if he didn't do something fast, he would have this hanging over his head.

Permanently.

No.

No, don't think about that.

After another fifteen minutes of ceaseless running, Chris felt as if he would completely give out if he pushed himself any harder, so he slowed to a jog before stopping altogether. He gasped loud breaths that he fought to keep measured as he leaned over with his palms on his knees, trying to slow his heartrate down. No matter how long he stood there however, his heart continued to thud painfully in his chest, not only from the running, but from the rush of panic that was taking control of his every function.

In this storm, he was completely lost. He had no way of finding his direction, with no sun to guide him. The only light he was given now were the sporadic bursts of light as lightning raced across the heavens. It was making traveling through this dense forest nearly impossible. Even after Chris regained some of his strength and tried to continue, he was having a hard time navigating through the trees, which were becoming closer and closer together the deeper he went.

Closer to the heart of the forest.

For what felt like the millionth time he stopped short as lightning lit up the forest again, and almost seconds after ear-splitting thunder ensued, so loud that it caused his teeth to rattle in his skull.

That's when he saw something ahead, something that normally shouldn't catch his eye- but for some reason, it seemed to stick out to him like a sore thumb.

Just ahead stood the largest, mightest tree he had ever seen in his entire life. Under any other circumstances he would have been impressed, but this time it wasn't the tree that had caught his attention. Just below where the branches were far reaching and the leaves drooped down to block most of the rain from hitting the ground, there was a figure just barely visible in the darkness. It was completely motionless, and from where Chris was standing it looked like a dead stump. He realized though that it couldn't be- not this close to this massive tree, whose roots snaked through the ground even past where he was standing.

When lightning flashed again, he had a split second of clarity, and he could see what it was. Vaguely person shaped, facing away from him... a body wearing a sickeningly familiar blue jacket that was caked in a mottled mixture of black mud and crimson.

Chris's eyes widened, his body going stiff as the sound finally caught up with the lightning bolt, causing a crash of thunder that shuddered through his entire body as he whispered,

"Martin."

His legs were moving before his brain had a chance to respond, tripping and stumbling over the tree roots as he fought his way over to his brother."Martin! _M-Martin!_" he cried, his heart leaping into his throat the second he finally made it over, and collapsed to his knees next to Martin's normally strong shoulders.

At first he was scared to move him, but in the position he was lying his cut was getting caked with mud and dirt. So, not wanting it to have a chance to get infected, he took the chance and took Martin by his good arm and shoulder and heaved him over onto his back, able to see now that he was unconscious. His skin was frighteningly pale, and he was cold.

He was so cold.

At first this sent a spike of terror through Chris, and for a moment he didn't know what to do. When he was finally able to reclaim himself, he remembered that Martin was showing all of the tell-tale signs of shock, a symptom of blood loss.

But unconsciousness wasn't a good thing.

With trembling fingers, he reached down and held his index and middle finger to Martin's neck, feeling for a pulse. When he finally found it, it was slow, and barely able to be detected beneath his brother's icy skin. Then he held his wrist over Martin's partially open mouth, since he couldn't see his chest rising at all.

Still breathing, but his breaths were so slow, so shallow, it was a wonder any oxygen was entering his body, let alone enough to live off of.

"Martin-" Chris couldn't stop himself as he choked out the name a fourth time, as if he hoped it would bring him to. He lifted Martin up a little more with some difficulty, so he could more easily hold him in his lap. For some reason, he wasn't thinking of calling the Tortuga. He wasn't thinking of getting help.

He was so consumed with anguish, with regret, that it was keeping him locked in place. Poor Chris trembled violently as he squeezed Martin's shoulder a little, and then reached out to gingerly touch his hand. His fingers twitched, and he jerked back, glancing up at the sky when lightning flashed again.

Then, carefully, he took Martin's larger, stronger hand in his own, holding it tightly even though he wasn't hanging on at all in response. "M-Martin...Oh...Oh Martin...I'm_ so_ sorry. ..I...I'm so sorry!" The younger brother begged, even though somehow he knew Martin couldn't hear. "I...I w-was such a jerk to you...I- ...I hurt you, a-and now look what I've done-" His voice trailed off a little as it rose an octave, his breath hitching in his throat.

"You're..." He shook his head a little and gripped Martin's hand even tighter, "You're t-the single best brother a g-g-guy could ever ask for. ...I-...I l-love you so much Martin. I...I'm sorry for the h-horrible way I t-treated you...a-and I...n-now you're..."

"..." Chris blinked hard, opening his eyes. They darted briefly over Martin's frame as he continued to lie motionless, but just for a moment, he felt Martin's hand stiffen and tighten around his own, squeezing it. Martin was there, even in that simple gesture. Chris knew, because it felt like he had held his hand near a warm fire, sending a chill up his arms through his palm and the tips of his fingers.

And then, Martin's hand relaxed, and he let go, Chris's hand resuming supporting his as the younger brother weakly finished his sentence in a breathy whisper.

"...y...you're_ dying_."

That's when the reality of the situation seemed to really hit home, and time resumed it's natural speed, and it was as if Chris could see Martin's chest movements slow, and then seem to come to a complete stop.

"Martin-" He breathed again, tightening his hand around both Martin's hand and his shoulder where he still supported him against his lap and chest. "Martin!?" Chris felt as if the earth was shifting beneath him, moving and leaving him somewhere in a world far behind. Because in a world without Martin- ...without his only brother- ...that's where he would be.

Gone. Left behind.

"Ma-..r_tin_-...!" He cried again, his voice coming out in a strange, garbled gasp as he struggled to hold back his sobs, tears having long since begun to burn in his eyes. He choked loudly and bowed his head over his brother's, his chin brushing the top of his dirty blonde hair as tears rolled down his cheeks and off his chin, dripping onto the front of his bloodied shirt. "Y..You can't...M-Martin..." Pleaded Chris, unable to comprehend what was going on anymore. "You c-c...an't **DIE**!"

But it was no use. The man was no longer responding, and no matter how close Chris leaned, no matter how near he got to his mouth to feel for breath- he wasn't catching anything. He couldn't get a pulse. There was absolutely no response. And even now, Martin felt as if he had grown colder than ever.

Desperately, Chris let go of Martin's hand, and then gathered his limp body up in his arms, pulling him into a hug that would never be returned. He slumped down a little so he wouldn't be forced to support Martin's entire weight, and proceeded to cry his heart out into his brother's shoulder. He didn't even care that he was getting blood all over himself. He didn't care about anything else anymore. Inbetween cries Chris sobbed out Martin's name, rocking back on his heels a little before taking a breath for another long, hard outcry. The storm continued to tear the forest apart all around him, as if sharing in his despair.

He sniffed when the hyperventalating started, his breath coming in short, quick gasps that he couldn't control. His tears were soaking Martin's lifeless shoulder, but he didn't care.

He didn't care.

Martin was gone. He was dead, and he was never going to come back.

And it was all Chris's fault.

* * *

Chris had lost all track of time, considering how long he knelt there at the base of the mighty tree. It seemed to watch over him gently as he cried and cried to the point where he knew he was going to be sick again.

But he couldn't find it in him to let go.

He didn't want to let go, he couldn't. Even after his crying would somehow hush, he would remember who he was holding onto, and start crying even harder again. He just wanted to die. He wanted to die so he wouldn't have to face a life without Martin. A life without his brother WAS no life.

A life where he had been responsible for his brother's death?

...that wasn't a bearable one by any means.

He wished the tree would collapse on them both. He wished he could die here with Martin, and never be found by the crew, so they wouldn't have to suffer with this fact of what had happened.

...

Here he was again, being selfish.

Wishing for his brother to come back to a younger brother he really didn't deserve to have to live with. Oh he could hear Martin's laughing voice now, berating him:

_"Hey, Chris. ...come on now, y'gotta stop cryin'. I...No matter what you do, you're always gonna be my bro. Nothin's ever going to change that. ...I mean...haven't we had talks like this before?_

_...An'...I don't want you to spend your life upset over the fact that I'm no longer with you._

_I don't want you to wish you could die, so you could be with me. I don't want that._

_I want you to be strong for me Chris. For the rest of the crew- and I want you to take my place, and be their leader. Keep everyone together, and keep your head held high._

_Keep your life filled with laughter. That'll get you through anythin', I promise. Stay surrounded by those you love, and stick together. If there's any creature adventurer out there that could do that, it'd be you._

_Speakin' of that, I want you to keep on exploring. Keep on being an advocate for animals- teach the world about them, and keep them safe from people like Zach. Haha, you know- go out and find a new species! You better name it after me in my honor if you do!_

_I know you have your strengths and your weaknesses. But I also know you can overcome ANYTHING Chris. Because you're my brother. Because I love you._

_Because you're a Wild Kratt."_

All of the air left Chris's lungs in one loud, long breath as his eyes flew open. He couldn't help it, he was sobbing again. Wretchedly this time, so much so that he couldn't see, as if he could see through this storm to begin with.

His eyes darted madly over the forest, his body consumed with despair. It was his turn to hunch over and scream as hard as his lungs would allow, just as Martin had done hours before, lamenting what had happened.

Brothers messed up, that's what being siblings was all about. But that also meant that even when mistakes happened...

they still love each other. No matter what.

And with that, the nightmare was over. Everything was over, and Chris felt numb even as he continued to cry, fear flooding from him. His back pressed up against the tree trunk as he struggled to regain his composure. His feet dangled over the edge as he stared out into the forest from where he sat in the tree, still ten feet in the air.

Still in the tree. Awoken, from a nightmare.

His eyes wide, he stared and continued to take long gasps. Out in that forest, there was still hope, lingering somewhere. Dwindling.  
But lingering.

Because Martin was still out there somewhere.

Barely- ...but alive.


End file.
